Image:A chair marked for Gary Cohn was left empty during the conference

Mr Trump has pushed on with his plans for a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% levy on aluminium despite apparent internal White House wrangling over the strategy, and pleas from UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

He did not attend a press conference with Mr Trump, despite a seat being marked for him.

When asked about the high turnover rate in the White House, Mr Trump said: “Many, many people want every single job… I could take any position in the White House and I’ll have a choice of the 10 top people having to do with that position. Everybody wants to be there.”

Image:Gary Cohn has resigned as director of the US National Economic Council

The top contenders for the job are Peter Navarro, a White House adviser, and conservative commentator Larry Kudlow.

The US dollar fell and stock futures dropped by 1% after the news of Democrat Mr Cohn’s departure.

Paul Mortimer-Lee, chief market economist at BNP Paribas corporate and investment banking said: “One of the adults in the room has left. The markets will worry that this is a signal that we will definitely go ahead with these tariffs.”

Mr Cohn’s relationship with the president is understood to have soured after Mr Trump’s response to the neo-Nazi clashes in West Virginia in August last year.